Every complete sentence
in English must have at least a subject and a verb. This is also generally true
in Arabic. However, the organization of these elements in a sentence can
be a bit different in Arabic.

In English sentences, the subject
usually precedes the verb. In Arabic, there
are two types of sentences in regard to subject and verb ordering:

Nominal
Sentences:sentences in which the subject precedes
the verb.

Verbal
Sentences: sentences in which the verb precedes
the subject.

Usage of Each Type of
Sentences

Unlike in English, where the change in the
intonation of the speaker is probably the only way to emphasize or stress different elements of the sentence, emphasis
of different elements can be achieved in Arabic by alternating between the two
types of sentences.

Nominal sentences are used when the SUBJECT is
the most important element in the sentence and which the speaker seeks to
emphasize.

Verbal sentences are in fact the normal tone, they are used when the
speaker is not stressing anything in particular, or also when the speaker
seeks to stress the verb or the ACTION.

Nominal
Sentences

A nominal sentence in
Arabic الْجُمْلَةُ
الاِسْمِيَّةُis a
sentence that starts with the subject (a noun) and the verb follows. The subject can be a noun,
a pronoun, a demonstrative, or a relative clause.

The defining property of a
nominal sentence is that the subject precedes the verb. Thus there are
more than one
possibility for nominal sentences in the presence of an object, an adverb,
a
prepositional phrase, etc. The first one is the standard usual one:

Standard
Structure of Nominal Sentences

Subject

Verb

Others

THE BOY

reads

his book

Object

THE BOY

reads

fast

Adverb

THE BOY

reads

in the library

Prepositional Phrase

THE BOY

is

smart

Adjective

The capitalization is a
reference to the fact that the subject is the stressed element in nominal
sentences.

The other possible structures
for nominal sentences are
more rare:

Alternative Structure For Nominal Sentences

Others

Subject

Verb

in the
library

THE
BOY

reads

Alternative Structure For Nominal Sentences

Others

Subject

Verb

Others

in the library

THE BOY

reads

his book

Alternative Structure For Nominal Sentences

Subject

Other

Verb

THE BOY

in the library

reads

So the important point is that the subject
always precedes the verb in nominal sentences.

Examples on nominal sentences:

Subject-
Verb -Object

الْوَلَدُ يَقْرَأُكِتَاْبَهُ

'al-walad(u) yaqra'(u)
kitaaba-h(u)

= the boy reads (the) book
(of) him

Translation: THE BOY reads his
book

Subject-
Verb -
Prepositional Phrase

الْبَنَاْتُ يَلْعَبْنَفِيْ
الْحَدِيْقَةِ

'al-banaat(u) yal"abn(a) fee ('a)l-hadeeqa(ti)

= the girls play in the yard/park

Translation: THE GIRLS are playing
in the yard/park

Be-Sentences

We
talked in a separate section about the
fact that nominal, present tense, "be" sentences do not have verbs in
Arabic (the verb "be" is omitted in the present tense). This is the only
case in Arabic in which there is no verb in the sentence. In these
verb-less sentences, the stress usually falls on the predicate not the
subject (the part after the "be"); unless the intonation says otherwise.

Subject-Predicate

حَسَنٌهُنَاَْ

hasan(un)
hunaa

= Hassan (is) here

Translation: Hassan is
here

Subject-Predicate

هَذَاْيَوْمٌ
عَصِيْبٌ

haathaa
yawm(un) "aseeb(un)

= this
(is) a day a hard

Translation: this
is a hard day

Subject-Predicate

لَيْلَىْ هِيَ زَوْجَةُ مَحْمُوْدٍ

laylaa hiy(a)
zawja(tu) mahmood(in)

= Layla she
(is) (the) wife (of) Mahmud

Translation: Layla is Mahmud's
wife

Subject-Predicate

صَدِيْقِيْ هُوَ مَاْلِكُ
الْمَتْجَرِ

sadeeq-ee
huw(a) maalik(u) ('a)l-matjar(i)

= (the)friend
(of) me he (is) (the) owner (of) the
shop

Translation: my friend owns the
shop

Subject-Predicate

الْقَاْهِرَةُ هِيَ عَاْصِمَةُ مِصْرَ

'al-qaahira(tu)
hiy(a) "aasima(tu) misr(a)

= Cairo she
(is) (the) capital (of) Egypt

Translation: Cairo is the capital
of Egypt

*Note:
مِصْر
is a "forbidden to Noonation" word and it takes an irregular sign for the
genitive case.

Sentences that begin with an indefinite word,
such as "a man is here" are NOT
usually used in Arabic. The demonstrative
"there" will be usually used for such sentences.

هُنَاْكَ رَجُلٌ
بِالْبَاْبِ

hunaak(a) rajul(un)
bi-l-baab(i)

= there
(is) a man by the door

Translation: there is a man at the
door

ثَمَّةَ أَحَدٌ مَاْ

thammat(a) 'ahad(un)
maa

= there
(is) one-some

Translation: someone
is there

Note that such sentences that begin with
"there is" will NOT become "there was" when rendered in the past tense;
nor will they become "there will be" when in the future tense. To change
the tense of these sentences from the present to the past of the future, a
verbal sentence is usually used (i.e. "was there a man at the door"
or "will be there a man at the door," we will cover this when we talk
about verbal sentences soon).

Be-sentences in the past
tense will have the perfective verb kaan(a)كَانَ= was or one of its
conjugations.

Subject-
Verb -Adverb

الْسَّمَاْءُ كَاْنَتْصَاْفِيَةً

'as-samaa'(u) kaanat saafiya(tan)

= the sky was/existed clearly

Translation: the sky was
clear

*The
verb "be" in Arabic requires an adverb after it rather than an adjective as
in English. This is only true when the verb appears but not when it is not
apparent (i.e. in the present tense). Such verbs are called in Arabic the
incomplete verbsالأَفْعالُ
النَّاْقِصَةُ .

Subject-
Verb -Adverb

حُسَيْنٌكَاْنَهُنَاْكَ

husayn(un)
kaan(a)
hunaak(a)

= Hussein was there

Translation: Hussein was there

Subject-
Verb -Adverb

هَذَاْكَاْنَيَوْمًاعَصِيْبًا

haathaa
kaan(a)
yawma(n) "aseeba(n)

=
this was a day a hard

Translation:
this
was a hard day

*The
literal sense: "this existed as a hard day."

In the future tense, "be"
verbs will be sa-yakoon(u)سَيَكُوْنُ= will be, or
sawf(a)
yakoon(u) سَوْفَ
يَكُوْنُ= will be.